Another brand of bottled water banned

October 10, 2013, 10:13 pm

By Dilanthi Jayamanne

The Ministry of Cooperative and Internal Trade, on an order issued by the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court, yesterday announced the banning of ‘Amaron’, a brand of bottled water, which had been found unfit for human consumption.

Spokesman for the Ministry Nipun Ekanayake said that samples of the bottled water had been taken in August, following a large number of complaints received by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) regarding the quality of bottled water available in the market.

There had been complaints of bottled water containing foreign particles and questionable collection sources.

Ekanayake said that the samples that had been given to the Government Analyst for testing had shown that the ‘Amaron’ brand of bottled water contained grease and oil.

The spokesman said the CAA had filed a case, No. 8411, in the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court and requested that the particular brand be banned from the market till the case was over.

Assistant Director of the CAA (Legal and Authorisation) Sanjeewani Kasthuriarachchi and Kushani Dikkumbura had appeared as the plaintiff, he said.

Last month, the Health Ministry took legal action against two bottled water producers for failing to register under the Food Act. The spokesman for the Health Ministry took steps to withdraw all bottles of water bearing trade names ‘Amaron,’ and ‘Ceylon Water.’

The bottlers had attempted to imitate well known brand labels as well. The ministry took action against the producers of Amron (No. 190/D/1, Samurdhigama, Kotagoda, Opatha) and Ceylon Water (2nd Stage, Karmanthapura, Paradisewatta, Kuruwita, Ratnapura). Instructions had been issued at the time to remove both brands from the market and stop their production, the Health Ministry spokesman said.